browseImages of Youth in Cumbria
John Rigby (Photographer)
Original Side Gallery exhibition text, 1991:
West Cumbrian photographer John Rigby was commissioned by Side in 1990 to produce a series of portraits of the young people of his area. Some of them were at the FE College where John taught photography, others were neighbours, acquaintances, and friends. In doing so, John sought to involve the people he photographed in considering how he was portraying them. He left it to them to decide on locations, dress, pose, and explored their ideas through a number of interviews.
One such interview was with Martyn Deans, age 26, now living in Gateshead, but formerly of Seaton. It describes very well the background to the work:
I can describe my childhood quite accurately and at considerable length. I can even lapse into sentimental and nostalgic waffle easily when remembering my early years. However, I find it very difficult to firmly describe my youth. Perhaps the very nature of adolescence-insecurity instability, and a constantly changing and developing role and personality makes it that much more problematic to produce a definite view. I’m also aware that it’s much easier to be negative about the experience and pick out bleak images and feelings than it is to highlight positive ones. Again I think this is more to do with physiology than geography. Similarly, I believe that my (or anybody else’s for that matter) personal experiences are due in major part to parental attitudes and support, and less to any local or youth cultural factors. I don’t live locally any more and whether that makes me more or less qualified to make comment is open to question. There is a proverb though... “Lookers-on see most of the game...”
Because the area is generally a single class (i.e. working) area, the majority of the population hold similar values, aspirations, have similar backgrounds, similar tastes, and for me most importantly, similar values and expectations.
Now I’m at pains to point out that I am not making any value judgement about these values; I do not believe them to be better than other values we might find in a population composed of other groups. Just different. I think that this is very important; a background shared by huge portions of the populace is bound to produce a group set of values, i.e. a culture. What’s more, it is my experience that any one who does not necessarily subscribe to these views and aspirations, e.g. in terms of lifestyle, employment, sexuality; anyone who cannot fit into the very well defined set of expectations engendered by a shared background, leaves. And the status quo is maintained.
This system maintains itself by legislating, by imposing sanctions on those who transgress a well-defined set of expectations. And because we are talking about a very small area, those who do transgress these cultural rules become defined as in some way odd, ridiculous, weird. Reduced to a one dimensionality. I find such boundaries very claustrophobic. But this is how the culture maintains itself, this is how it makes deviants toe the line - by placing them open to ridicule and generally reducing their worthiness or status as a “real” i.e. “normal” person.
Because we have a small, strongly similar set of people, who, because of the low amount of numbers, often know at least a member of your family, if not directly yourself, then this is how labels become attached and disseminated quickly and the individual definitively labelled. This label then becomes your over-riding identity, you may be weird, a puff, a drunk, soft (all negative values in West Cumbria but not necessarily everywhere) and you are reduced to one dimensionality - other aspects of your life are dismissed.
If social or cultural pressure does not work then physical intimidation or violence may follow.
I don’t know if this kind of background is exclusive to West Cumbria, in fact I suspect not. I believe that this is probably the case in many other communities also.
I remember: my dad on strike from the steelworks. I remember his redundancy following swiftly. I remember the Reds getting thrown out of the league; Town winning the cup; trying to get served in pubs under-age; washing my hair twice a day; painfully striving to look right (my own definition of “right”). I remember Ken Dodd opening the Co-op. I remember Trader Bill’s; dances at Westlands on Wednesdays; the Rendezvous; the Down Under Club; the Ritz; boredom, excitement, filling in time, hanging about, wanting to be “in”; the Seaton Bus; walking home; leaving school and wanting to go back. I can’t say I remember leaving home because I generally slowly slid away rather than took a decision. I remember having little to do although perhaps not realising it.
Do I have a fondness for West Cumbria? Yes.